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Topic: Beemax hives (Read 7754 times)

and how about additional ventilation come next fall/winter? Do I need to add (drill) any holes in my PS boxes, or any straw above my inner cover? Or is the natural ventilation in the beemax PS hive sufficient?

I have six hives all original bee max deeps and supers and happy with them as they winter well. I made 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch shims for the bottom boards and leave them on all year around. I also made the same shims for the top with a ventilation whole in the front. The top shim needs to be to be a 1 1/4 inch on the front to allow the bees to get in and out under the top cover. It helps in the winter in the event you have to emergency feed them. You take the top and inner cover off for a quick inspection or installation of feed without disturbing the boxes or installing any other mediums or deeps.

It would be nice if they would make the bee max in the 8 frame configuration.

What is the two inch bar going around the top of your hive? Is that a custom made piece? Is it for insulation? Is it lined with somthing metallic? Do you leave it on all year? Do you use an inner cover with it? Sorry for the noob questions, but as I said I'm just starting out.

What is the two inch bar going around the top of your hive? Is that a custom made piece? Is it for insulation? Is it lined with somthing metallic? Do you leave it on all year? Do you use an inner cover with it? Sorry for the noob questions, but as I said I'm just starting out.

Thanks,

It is a insulation shim made out of 2" foil backed foam board. Foil prevents the bees from chewing through it. I use the same material for the cover. Without the shim, there is not enough room to feed sugar or pollen patties. By putting it on in the fall, the bees have time to seal up the cracks and get the air tight nest they desire.

It is put on in the fall, and taken off in the spring before any flow starts to prevent them from filling it with comb. If the timing is right, I get none to very little comb built in the space. Occasionally, I do get a hive that fills it with comb, but if caught early enough in the spring, it can be removed before the queen lays eggs in it.

No inner cover is used with it, the 2" cover foam board is places right on top. Then I either put a piece of coroplast election sign or a telescopic wood cover as shown in the picture. This just gives the insulation board a little protection and stores the cover until spring.In spring, the shim and insulation cover are removed and standard wooded honey supers are put on top with standard inner cover and telescopic cover.

Purpose being you don't want anything with a lower r-value than the hive bodies otherwise it can be a place of condensation. By keeping the insulation values high, my hives stay bone dry. Not to mention, the heat retention allows them to raise brood faster and in larger quantities as shown in the picture. Brood needs heat, so any heat you allow to escape reduces the amount of brood they can raise.

Just FYI, I had some non-foil backed insulation board given to me this year and I made some shims out of it and lined it with a layer of clear shipping tape and it worked fine.

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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison

Beemax hives have an R-value of about 3, correct?. When I bought mine, they sent me a telescopic cover that has an R-Value of 6.5 (the same, that I can tell, as your foiled insulation shim), therefore I would not need the shim, unless I needed extra room for patties/feeding emergencies, correct?

Me and a friend have ordered these beemax hives from betterbees.com. We have set them up and painted them with exterior latex paint. My question is that it didn't come with any hive entrance reducer and the bottom bored is just a screen with nothing below it. Is anything needed below the bottom board that was supplied, and also is any enterance reducer needed. this is our first go at beekeeping and want to be prepared as possible. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Please let us know how your order with Betterbee goes. I heard they were having a bit of trouble last year completing orders.

I ordered them in January and got within a week. Only complaint is the high shipping costs..for anything (small or big)...

Me and a friend have ordered these beemax hives from betterbees.com. We have set them up and painted them with exterior latex paint. My question is that it didn't come with any hive entrance reducer and the bottom bored is just a screen with nothing below it. Is anything needed below the bottom board that was supplied, and also is any enterance reducer needed. this is our first go at beekeeping and want to be prepared as possible. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Please let us know how your order with Betterbee goes. I heard they were having a bit of trouble last year completing orders.

I ordered them in January and got within a week. Only complaint is the high shipping costs..for anything (small or big)...

Mann-Lake has free shipping for all orders over $100 and Brushy Mt. has free shipping for a few weeks at the end of every year. If you plan ahead you can prevent ever having to pay those high shipping cost ever again.

Mann-Lake has free shipping for all orders over $100 and Brushy Mt. has free shipping for a few weeks at the end of every year. If you plan ahead you can prevent ever having to pay those high shipping cost ever again.

Neither sell polystyrene equipment

Logged

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison

Beemax hives have an R-value of about 3, correct?. When I bought mine, they sent me a telescopic cover that has an R-Value of 6.5 (the same, that I can tell, as your foiled insulation shim), therefore I would not need the shim, unless I needed extra room for patties/feeding emergencies, correct?

I have used the BeeMax covers with no inner cover, and they work just as well. You just don't have room to feed.

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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison